Sarah Burness's Blog: How To Work From Home More Efficiently

Friday 9 June 2017

How To Work From Home More Efficiently

The idea of working from home sounds pretty attractive to the average person. You can work in your pajamas, work on your own schedule and be comfortable while you do it. While working from home does have its benefits, it can be distracting. Many people who make the decision to work at home are surprised at how difficult it is to get work done. If you’re struggling to be productive from home, here are a few tips on how to get your work done.

Have a Designated Work Area

One of the best things you can do when it comes to working at home is to set up a designated work space. If you have a room that you can designate as your home office, then that is the most ideal solution. However, many people don’t have that luxury. In that case, you can still try to setup some area in your house that is designated for your work. For example, get a desk and put it in the corner of a bedroom.

This will give you a place to keep your work away from the rest of the house. If you can shut the door and get away from outside distractions, that is the best case scenario.

Set a Work Schedule

Perhaps the most common issue that people have when they work at home is that there is no clear separation between work and home. They end up working many more hours when they work at home because they don’t know when to turn it off. They get an email at night and spring into action to deal with it, even though they might not do that under normal circumstances. Set a work schedule and then stick to it. Your family will learn to respect those work hours as if you were at the office. However, you need to honor that schedule by not continuing to work late into the evening.

Take it Serious

To be an effective at home worker, you need to have the right mindset. You must treat this as if you are the office and being as professional as possible. If you don’t take it seriously as if it were a real job, then you most likely won’t have good results. Show up to work on time and get in the zone. If someone calls, make sure that you’re in a quiet area and that they don’t hear background noise from the home. Don’t have the TV on in the background. Act as if you were right there in the office with your colleagues and it will start to feel like a real work environment.

Stay Plugged In

If you are able to, stay plugged into your regular work environment. For instance, you may want to go into the office periodically and work with your colleagues. Attend meetings in the office whenever possible. If you mix it up and go into the office sometimes, it will help in maintaining relationships with your coworkers.

It will also help to remind you that you’re part of a team and not feel alienated. Some people that start working from home forget what it’s like to work in an office environment around other people. Going to networking events is another good way to develop relationships and stay plugged into the business community in your area.

Overall, working at home can be extremely productive and effective if you approach it correctly. By following some of these tips, you’ll be able to get more work done and do it in an environment that you feel the most comfortable in at all times.

Sarah Burness's Blog